The 30 under 30 from Inc.com

On the homepage of NYU Stern there's a link referencing to the story "the 30 under 30" on Inc.com, which includes the story of a Stern Alumni-Kenny Lao. Look thru the stories of the 30 talented young enterpreneurs, their ideas for business are interesting and sometimes exotic. A fridge renting company serving 45 colleges nationwide? Sounds a little bizarre... But these two guys prove it a profitable business. And talking about the Stern Alumni Kenny, who ranks #15 on the list, he opened a restaurant/bar serving all kinds of dumplings! Yea, maybe I should open a Shanghainese Restaurant serving Fried Stinky Doufu in NYC haha~

Okay... my point is: the idea for business doesn't have to be big, it just need to be profitable! IB and MC are not the only places where fortunes are...

Then I figure I probably should stick to my plan of starting a fashion brand, and open my stores? But then how is an MBA gonna help with that? AH, gee... how should I position my career goal? (I'll need more time to think about it... painfully...)

So... what's next?

Throughout the week, I've been trying hard to figure out: what's next? As far as I can tell, finishing GMAT is just a tiny little part comparing to the whole application process, and honestly, i'm a little overwhelmed... So last night, I spent almost an hour trying to fit the tasks into the calendar, and here's what I've come to:

Sep 09 Stanford Essay Draft 1, Recommenders notified
Sep 14 MBA tour SH
Sep 15 TOEFL iBT
Sep 23 Anderson Essay Draft 1
Sep 26-Oct 7 Sydney (don't know if i can get anythings done on the road...)
Oct 20 Recommendation Ready
Oct 23 Stanford, Anderson Final
Oct 25 Stanford, Anderson Deadline
Oct 30 MIT Essay Draft 1
Nov 11 Stern, Rotman Draft 1
Nov 25 Stern Final
Dec 1 Stern Deadline
Dec 25 MIT, Rotman Final

There's been some change for the application rounds, I'll apply Stanford, Anderson, Stern in R1 and Sloan, Rotman in R2. According to the timeline, I should finish all the application before Christmas (wish i could have a relaxing Xmas without having to think about application~).

GMAT... check!

Thanx everyone for leaving msg and being supportive!!

I got a 780 (Q51 V46) in yesterday's test~ Now I really feel that I would get something this year, and go to B-school next year^_^

I feel both Q and V are easier than in GMATprep. I didn't take the break after AWA, coz i wanted to end this thing as quick as possible. So I began Q right away, and then i got stuck on the very first question. I spent 7 min to solve it coz i read the question wrong... After that, i saw some really really easy questions then I thought: I'm screwed. When I started the V, I tried very hard to forget about Q. I think I was quite focused and controlled the pace very well, that's why I could get a better than usual V. I took two GMATprep last week, both are 760, in spite of some familiar questions in OG.

I spent today hanging out with friends and just got back home... I haven't been so relaxed for quite some time. Will start working on essay tmr, got more tough work ahead~

Good luck to everyone if you haven't get your GMAT done, or you are working at your essay already~

1 day left!

It's official now: only one day left to my GMAT test! so nervous...

I took one GMATprep test on Monday and scored 760 (Q51 V41). Totally thrilled~ I just hope I can do the same in the real test =D
I will take another GMATprep test tomorrow, write a couple of AWAs, and take a good rest. Good luck to myself~

On the other hand, I watched a little Project Runway this week and was surprised to find a HBS MBA in season 3!! That lady, Stacey, went to Stanford for undergrad and then to HBS for MBA. She has even started a .com company! And then she said she came to the Project Runway coz her passion was really in fashion. While I was expecting to see her performance in the show, she was OUT in the very first round... How sad... But I kinda like the dress she designed, it's very elegant and totally wearable, though not very well executed. Com'on, how can u expect an MBA to use sewing machine? Maybe Project Runway is just too demanding for a fashion startup, the rest of them are all professionals... Well, but I appreciate her courage to try, it's really brave!

One last week before D test!

I don't know what I was thinking when I booked the test at Aug 18… Although that's a lucky day in chinese sense... But when a lot of applicants have begun their essay already, I'm still struggling over the test? That's not a good thing... And the worst thing is I have to torture myself by working and studying simultaneously for some extra weeks… :-S

But anyway, the most important thing is I am ready for the test, and ready to achieve my 750 target. I have applied annual leave for next week, so I can take a good rest and adjust myself to the best. And I need some quiet time to work on AWA… I used to suck on English writing, proved by a 4 from TOEFL writing. But then last year I scored 8 out of 9 from the IELTS writing. Now I'm confused and have no idea where my writing level is. So next week, I'm going to spend some time to read some AWA samples, work out a template for argument analysis, and skim thru the topics as much as I can.

Last but not least, I'll try to sleep as much as I can… gosh I so miss sleeping :-P